The Power to ChangeSample

I Can’t, But God Can

I’ve had several times when I’ve felt stuck. Looking back now, I can’t believe I stayed in the same situation for so long. I remember feeling helpless. I wanted to get unstuck but felt powerless. I’d think, Maybe tomorrow.

There’s likely an area of your life where you feel stuck right now. You might admit it feels worse than stuck. Your situation feels dead. You may believe your passion has passed. The love is lost. What’s left feels lifeless.

Why are we stuck?

Why don’t we make the changes that last? We stay stuck because we rely on willpower instead of God’s power. The Apostle Paul painfully admitted, “I’ve tried. I tried with everything I had. I thought I could. But I can’t.”

For years, that was the story I kept repeating too. I wanted to change. I would get motivated. I knew I could! And then I would discover, once again, I can’t.

You’ve been there with your own issue, right? You want to change in some way. You try. You make progress, then regress. You end up back in the same place. Or maybe even farther behind. Why?

Because willpower doesn’t work. Willpower is a limited resource. Willpower wilts. Still, we try. Because we’re desperate to change. We grit our teeth and give it our all. And it works, at first, for a bit, until our willpower wilts.

The Apostle Paul knew he needed more power. And that’s why he asked, “Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” That’s the question we all need to answer. But Paul answered his own question with his next sentence when he said, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25 NLT).

Paul understood, I can’t get myself unstuck, so I need a power I don’t possess. The power he found was Jesus. Paul discovered, I can’t. But God can.

The good news is that that same power that helped Paul is available to you. Actually, this is more accurate: The same power that got Jesus out of the grave, resurrected from death to life, is available to you. All you have to do is ask for it.

At the end of your power is God’s power. He’s always there. When we’re weak, He is strong.

Choosing to walk by the Spirit is not a one-time decision or event but an ongoing, habitual way of life. From this moment on, and every moment from now on, you can trust in and rely on God’s power, not your limited willpower!